Samantha Reid ’22 (above) has been a top scorer in the air rifle category for the Keydets. The rifle team had four matches in fall 2020, and resumes action at home versus Morehead State Jan. 23, 2021.—Photo courtesy VMI Keydets.
Following their opener versus Navy, VMI’s rifle teams had matches against The Citadel, Georgia Southern, Plattsburgh State, and North Georgia. The teams are scheduled to resume action Jan. 23 in Lexington, versus Morehead State.
The Keydets split versus The Citadel Oct. 10 and versus Georgia Southern and Plattsburgh State Oct. 18. In the last match of the fall, the Keydet eagle eyes fell to North Georgia Oct. 24.
The Keydets faced the baby blue Bulldogs at home in Kilbourne Hall Oct. 10. Simon Krauthamer ’22 led the way for the mixed team’s smallbore. He scored 561 points, followed by Jessica Hankin ’22 (552). Nicholas Schaefer ’23 (549) and Samantha Reid ’22 (548) also scored team points in this category.
On the women’s side for smallbore, Sarah Robertson ’23 led the VMI women with a 542 for 10th place overall and was pursued closely by teammate Savanah Diamond’s [’22] 538 tally. Claire Lee ’22 (523) and Katie Grochalski ’24 (497) also scored points in the segment.
Reid earned the top score for the VMI mixed team in the air rifle with a 575 for third place overall while Krauthamer came in fifth with 568 points. Hankin logged a 559 for eighth place and Schaefer scored a 559 for team points.
Diamond led the VMI women in the air rifle competition with a 560 score for seventh place and Lee tallied a 553 for 14th overall. Robertson scored a 552 and Grochalski logged a 544 as the final VMI women’s scorer.
Competing in a postal match at Georgia Southern Oct. 18, the VMI rifle teams fell to the Eagles but defeated Plattsburgh State.
Georgia Southern finished with 4535 points (2230 smallbore, 2305 air rifle) and was followed by the mixed VMI rifle team with 4453 points (2209 SB, 2244 AR). The VMI women came in third with 4221 points (2041 SB, 2180 AR), followed by Plattsburgh State with 3,928 points (1945 SB, 1983 AR).
As a postal match, the scores will count for Southern Conference consideration but will not count toward NCAA postseason qualification.
Krauthamer led the way for the VMI mixed team in the smallbore with a 561 tally followed by Hankin’s 559. Stephen Garner ’23 (547) and Schaefer (542) also scored points toward the team’s aggregate total.
Schaefer led the VMI mixed team in the air rifle with a 565 score just above Hankin and Krauthamer’s 561 totals for the event. Reid also scored team points for the category with a 557.
Diamond led the VMI women’s team with a 531 smallbore total and was pursued closely by teammate Sarah Robertson ’23, who compiled a 526 tally. Grochalski (498) and Carlie Shaffer ’23 (486) also logged team points.
Diamond also led the women’s team in the air rifle segment with a 560 registry while Cassidy Dufour ’23 (545) and Robertson (542) also shot team points. Grochalski finished fourth on the squad with a 533.
Competing in the final event of the 2020 calendar year, the VMI rifle teams fell to North Georgia in Southern Conference rifle action at Kilbourne Hall Oct. 24.
North Georgia came out on top with 4564 aggregate points (2237 SB, 2327 AR) followed by the VMI mixed team with 4438 (2188 SB, 2250 AR). The VMI women’s rifle team placed third with 4351 points (2125 SB, 2226 AR).
Hankin led the mixed team in both the smallbore (4th, 555) and air rifle (6th, 573) to pace the Keydets. Sophomores Schaefer, Garner, and Reid also scored team points for VMI in both categories for a strong performance on the day.
J. Nathaniel Gardner ’22 placed 15th in the air rifle with a 546 while freshman Philip Frey ’24 competed in both events for the mixed team.
On the women’s side, Diamond led the way in the smallbore with a seventh-place score of 550 while also scoring team points in the air rifle with a 558. Lee guided the team in the air rifle with an eighth-place performance of 565 while scoring second for VMI in the smallbore with a 538.
Grochalski and Robertson also scored in the top four of the VMI women for team points in both categories.
Shaffer competed for the women’s team in the smallbore, shooting a 476, while Dufour, Ashlyn Humphrey ’24, Bianca Cheverez ’24, and Maxine Gray-Barth ’24 competed for VMI in the air rifle.
For more details on the Keydets’ fall season, click here.
This information was compiled from articles at vmikeydets.com.
